(March 22, 1978)

THE PRESIDENT. The visit of Prime Minister Begin and
his discussions with me and the other Israeli and American officials
has been very important. These 2 short days have been spent in a comprehensive
exchange of views on the Middle East peace process. I have reiterated
to the Prime Minister the profound support of all Americans for the
security and the well-being of the state of Israel as it approaches
its 30th year of independence. We share Israel's pride in this milestone.

Israel's achievements are uniquely its own, a mixture
of high idealism, ingenuity, and self-reliance. Americans have always
found an echo of our own frontier past in Israel's energy and its strong
individualism.

Thirty years ago, Israel was born into uncertainty
and a threatening future. Since that time, Israel has suffered more
hardship and tragedy than most nations must endure in a century. Yet
today, Israel stands as a powerful nation, fiercely independent and
determined to forge its own political destiny.

The Israel of 1978 is strong and more secure militarily
than at any time in its history. We in America take satisfaction in
the knowledge that we have contributed in some small measure to the
realization of that dream of strength. We have stood beside Israel from
the earliest moments of its birth, and there we shall continue to stand.

This visit by Prime Minister Begin has had only one
purpose, to explore the ways in which we can build our past cooperation
into a true partnership for peace. In the course of these meetings,
Prime Minister Begin and I have had an opportunity to review in considerable
detail the present situation and our progress to date on a comprehensive
settlement of the Middle East conflict.

As always, these discussions have been detailed and
frank, as is to be expected from two partners in the peace process.

I have reviewed for Prime Minister Begin my recent
discussions with President Sadat. And I have shared with him my assessment
of what will be required to regain momentum in the common search for
peace.

I emphasized to him the importance of reaffirming that
all of the principles of Security Council Resolution 242 must apply
to all fronts if peace negotiations are to succeed.

In the past few months, we have had a glimpse of what
a peaceful future might hold. We have come to appreciate what it can
mean in terms of human contact, direct contact, and liberation from
the dangerous, self-defeating patterns of the past.

As Prime Minister Begin returns home, he will carry
with him our hopes and our dreams for a future free of the bitterness
and violence of the past generation.

We know that he faces both a challenge and an opportunity—the
challenge of providing security for his people, and the opportunity
to achieve that security through a true and enduring peace. It is our
conviction that this opportunity must not be allowed to slip into the
cycle of hatred and violence which has characterized the history of
the Middle East for the past 30 years and which we have witnessed again
over the last 2 weeks.

We pray with him that all peoples of the Middle East
will come to realize that another generation must not be allowed to
grow up learning only war and despair.

Prime Minister Begin does not return alone to his own
country. He carries with him our deepest hopes and prayers. We stand
with him as he faces the challenges and the opportunities of Israel's
great dream.

At this historic moment, when peace still seems far
away, we rely on the vision and the humanity of a great people, born
of great suffering, to triumph once again.

In this mission, Prime Minister Begin carries with
him the good wishes and the constant support of all the people of the
United States.

Mr. Prime Minister, we wish you Godspeed.

THE PRIME MINISTER. Mr. President, I thank you wholeheartedly
for the good words and the expressions of friendship and understanding
for our people and country. This is a new reaffirmation of the mutual,
deep amity between our peoples and our countries.

As you said, Mr. President, our people had to suffer
much and to fight for its liberation and for its independence. Great
sacrifices were given so that we can have the land of our forefathers
to build up for our children. But when I stand here in Washington in
the presence of the President of the United States, our great friend
and ally, it is my duty as the elected Prime Minister of Israel to remind
public opinion of the fact that Israel is still the only country in
the world against which there is a written document to the effect that
it must disappear.

There is no country, either large or small, or even
the smallest, against which there is such a document, demanding, saying
publicly, that country should not exist, should be wiped off the map,
and behind those people who carry out also the abominable acts to prove
that they mean it, there is an alignment of many Arab states, armed
to the teeth by the Soviet Union, and sometimes getting modern weapons
also from the West.

This is the decisive problem we face, which is called,
sometimes, security. I would like to reaffirm what security means to
us. It means the preservation of the lives of our elderly people, of
our women and our children—the lives which are threatened daily—so
that to make sure that the future generations, as ours, will live in
a free and independent country. This is the great issue we face, or
continue to face.

Now, Mr. President, what is our contribution to the
peacemaking process? Yes, indeed, when I learned that President Sadat
is ready to come to Jerusalem, I immediately sent out to him an invitation
to come, and then his visit took place. After that, President Sadat,
in the wake of my visit to you in December, Mr. President, invited me
to come to Ismailia. Both meetings of Jerusalem and Ismailia were characterized
by the spirit of friendship and openness. We knew, President Sadat and
I, that we have differences of opinion. But we both agreed that we shall
discuss them freely, we shall negotiate them, because such negotiations
are the soul of any attempt to reach an agreement and to conclude a
peace treaty.

That was the spirit. In that spirit, Israel contributed
three documents, making it possible to deal with the question how to
reach and conclude peace treaties. We made a peace proposal in two parts—one
concerning the bilateral relations between Egypt and Israel, and the
other, the full administrative autonomy for our neighbors, the Palestinian
Arabs residing in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.

It was a real contribution to the thinking and making
of peace, positive, constructive; and so it was appreciated here, Mr.
President, and elsewhere, when those two documents were produced, a
forthcoming proposal to make peace, a long step forward, a great deal
of flexibility, a notable contribution, to quote the public statements.

We added another document, a declaration of principles
which should make it possible for everybody to join in the peace effort.
There are three Israeli documents contributing to go forward in the
process of reaching peace in the Middle East. We only ask to negotiate.
We said it is a basis and a fair basis for negotiations. There may be
counterproposals. We shall also negotiate them. This is the process.

Mr. President, may I express our hope that this will
happen, indeed, and the spirit of the Jerusalem, the Washington, and
the Ismailia meeting will be renewed, and in that spirit of understanding
and openness, the negotiations will be resumed.

As I will be leaving your great country, Mr. President,
I will take with me the expressions of your friendship, of your humanity,
of your understanding of our problems. We are very grateful to you.
Israel is a very small country. The United States is a mighty world
power. But there are bonds which tie us together in understanding and
friendship which derive from our tradition, from our faith in divine
providence, from our love of liberty, from our devotion to democracy.

These are the values which make life worthwhile to
live. And therefore, as we say to each other from time to time, we are
not only friends, we are partners, we are allies. And in this spirit,
in the faith that we shall continue our partnership for peace, for liberty,
for the welfare of our peoples and of mankind, I take leave of you,
Mr. President, expressing my deep gratitude for your hospitality, for
your warmth, and for your friendship.